Method of raising liquids from wells.



- PATBNTBD APR. 9, 1907.'Y P. zr. MosBR, METHOD o-P RAISINGLIQUAIDS PROMWELLS.

Y .APPLICATION FILED J'ULY 11, 1905.

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P. J. MOSER.

APPLIUATION FILED JULY 11. 1905.

PATBNTED APR. 9, 1907.

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BY T'URNEYS FRED JOSEPH MOSE E, OE KANE, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF RAISING. LIQUIDS FROM WELLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 9, 1907.

Application illed July 11, 1905. Serial No. 269.171.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRED JOSEPH MOSER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Kane, in the county of McKean and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Method of Raising Liquidsfrom Wells, of which the following is a full, clear, and eXactdescription. 'i i My invention relates to a method of raising liquidsfrom wells, and admits of general use, but is of peculiar service inconnection with the raising of liquids from oil-wells.

My invention may be considered in connection with Patent N o. 721,594,dated February 24, 1903, and Patent No. 751,323, dated February 2, 1904,both issued to Thomas F. Moran and myself.

The present invention undertakes to improve upon the methods disclosedin the patents above mentioned.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings,orming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the iigures.

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical section through a well equipped withone form of my invention and suitable particularly for deep wells. Fig.2 is a somewhat similar section through a well equipped with myinvention, the well in this instance being comparatively shallow and themechanism being varied accordingly. Fig. 3 is a vertical enlargedsection through the packing disposed in the vicinity of the shot-holeand showing the relation of the parts connected with the packing; andFFig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section of the auxiliary acking 32 'andparts connected therewith, t iis packing being used only in deep wells,as indicated in Fig. 1.

The surface of the earth is shown at 5, the drill-hole at 6, and ametallic cylinder fitting into the drill-hole at 7, which is used toshut out fresh water from the well and in some instances extends to theoil strata, as shown. The shot-hole is shown at 8 and the pocket at 3a.This pocketmay be considered as a short section or continuation of thedrillhole, but located below the shot-hole. Mounted upon the upper endof the cylinder or casing 7 is the casing-head 9 9a and stuifing-boX 10.In deep Wells, as shown in Fig. 1, the casing-head is provided withpipes 9b,

which may be used for removing natural gas formed within the well. Ifthe well is comparatively shallow, as indicated in Fig. 2, it 1sdesirable to provide the casing-head 9a with a plug 9C. It prevents theescape of any aeriform body contained therein. The pipe 11 is providedwith a valve 12 and communicates with the so called air-pipe 13. While Iuse the term air-pipe because of its technical meaning, I contemplatethe employment of this pipe for conducting into the well any aeriformbody-such, for instance, as natural gaskwhich may be used for raisingthe liquid. The air-pipe is provided with a hand-valve 14 and isconnected with a blow-ofi pipe by means of a T 16, the blow-0H pipebeing provided with a handvalve 17. Between the T 16 and the pipe 11 theair-pipe 13 is further provided with a hand-valve 17 b. The air-pipe 18is continued downwardly through a tubing-head 19 and through a tube 20.The pipe 11 connects with a T 21 upon the tube 20.

In Fig. 2 the air-pipe is shown at 13a and is provided with a hand-valve14a. A short pipe 11a, forming virtually a continuation oi' the.air-pipe, communicates with a tubing 20UL and is provided with ahand-valve 12a. The air-discharge pipe is shown at 15D and is providedwith a hand-valve 16C. This pipe is connected with the casing-head 9a.From the air-discharge pipe the pipe 18EL leads upward to the air-pipe132L and is provided with a hand-valve 17 a. The oil-discharge pipe isshown at 21a 21b and is normally closed by a hand-valve 22a 22. The tube20 is threaded at its lower end and rovided with a collar 23, having aconoidal disk 24 integral with it. This collar 23 is connected rigidlywith a tube 25, and upon the lower end of this tube is a collar 26. Asleeve 27 lits slidably upon the tube 25 and is provided with a iange 23and also with an annular portion 29, being threaded at 30, as indicatedin Fig. 4. Threaded upon this annular portion 29 is a collar 31. Thiscollar engages a cup-shaped packing 32, of leather, which encircles theannular portion 29. A comparatively large sleeve 33 is threadedinternally at its upper end and fitted upon the sleeve 27. The sleeve 33is provided with a core 34, having a passage 35, this passagecommunicating with the air-pipe 13 by means of an opening 37, as

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indicated in Fig. 4. An annular bead 36 extends upward through the core34 and is integral with the sleeve 33. A sleeve 38 is provided with anannular flange 39 and with a threaded portion 40. Engaging this threadedportion is another sleeve 41, threaded internally and also engaging theair-pipe 18. Cup-shaped packings 42 43, preferably of leather, encirclethe sleeve 38 and are spaced apart and otherwise held in position by anannular member 44, as will be understood from Fig. 4. The sleeve 33 isprovided with a reduced portion 45, the latter being engaged by a tube46 46a. The tubes 2() and 46 may be considered as the tubingA when usedas in Fig. 1, as these two tubes virtually forni continuations of eachother. A housing 47 is connected with the tube 46 at a point disposed alittle above the shot-hole. This housing is provided with a neck 48,threaded internally, as shown, and fitting the lower end of the tube 46.Disposed within lthe housing 47 and integral therewith is a valve-seat49, normally supporting the ballvalve 50. y A passage 51 extendsdownwardly through the housing 47. This housing terminates at its lowerextremity in a conoidal member 52. An inserted valve-seat 53 is mountedwithin the housing 47 and normally supports a ball-valve 54. Anoutlet-passage 54l1 is provided for permitting liquid to escape from thehousing after raising the ballvalve 54. The inserted valve-seat 53 isheld in place by a sleeve 55, which is threaded at its upper end andscrewed into the housing. The lower e'nd of the sleeve 5 5 is threadedexternally and fitted with a collar 56. Slidably encircling the sleeve55 is another sleeve 57, provided with a shoulder 57 a, this shoulderbeing adapted to move into engagement with the collar 56, which forms alimitingstop therefor. This sleeve 57 is provided with disk-like portion58, having a vertical passage 59 through it. A cup-shaped packing 60,preferably of leather, is provided with a passage 61, registering withthe passage 59.

A collar 62 is threaded internally and fitted upon a threaded portion 64of the sleeve 57, this ortion being integral with the body of the seeve. A packing 63, preferably of annular form and made of rubber,encircles the sleeve 55. A sleeve 65, of substantially funnel shape, isthreaded internally and fitted upon the sleeve 57. This sleeve 65 isprovided with a reduced portion 66, threaded internally, and fittedwithin it is an anchorpipe 67, provided with perforations 68 and closedat its lower end by means of a plug 69. The liquid to be raised is shownat 70, and the main body of liquid in the well is shown at 71 71a, thismain body having been partially raised, as hereinafter described.

The housing 47 a the housing 47, the internal parts being identical, theonly difference being that the two is in all respects similar to4.through the anchor-pipe 67.

housings are connected with parts of somewhat different character in theupper portion of the well.

Referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that as the sleeve 27 fits slidablyupon the sleeve 25 the tube 20, the sleeve 23, the conoidal member 24,the sleeve 25, and the collar 26 are rigid in relation to each other andthat the sleeve 27, the packing 32, the sleeve 33, and the tube 46 arelikewise rigid in relation to each other, yet the parts last mentionedconsidered as aunit are slidable in relationto the parts firstmentioned-that is to say, the connection between the sleeve 25 and thesleeve 27 is a slip-joint. The weight of the tube 2O and parts restingthereupon forces the conoidal member 24 down upon the packing 32, so asto distend the same and make it Huid-tight within the drill-hole, thecollar 27 being free to move slightly away from the lower end of thesleeve 25 to allow for this movement. The air-pipe 18 is fitted indeendently of the slip-joint mentioned. The ower end of the air-pipe beingprovided with the cup-shaped valves 42 43, of leather, is lowered intoposition and is encircled by the bead 36, so as to make a water-tightconnection having a high degree of play, sufficient, for instance, toallow for slight imperfections in fitting. The housing 47 and the partsbelow it are also provided with slip-joint and water-tightpackingsomewhat similar to that just described. The weight of the tube 46 andhousing 47 causes the conoidal member 52 to expand the packing 60 andrender it fluid-tight within the drill-hole. The collar 56 recedes fromthe shoulder 57a for this purpose. The rubber packing 63 is easilycompressed by the weight of the housing and parts connected thereto andthe efliciency of the slip-joint formed by the sleeves 55 and 57. By themeans above described the tubing from the top of the well downward maybe handled from above in such manner that when the parts are properlyrested in place complete fluid-tight connections are made.

The operation of the device embodying my method is as follows: T willfirst explain the action of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2. The valves 17a and 22a being closed and the valves 14a and 12a being open, theaeriform body is thus admitted through the air-pipe 13a to the tubing2OEL and passes downward to the housing 47, which, as above described,is identical with the housing 47. Referring now to Fig. 3, it will beseen that the aeriform body forces the ball-valve 50 upon its seat 49,passing downwardly through the passages 51, 61, and 59 into the lowerportion of the drill-hole and also into the shot-hole 8, where itexercises a downward pressure upon the upper level of the liquid 70.This forces the liquid through the passages 68, up

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sleeve 55 and raising the ball-valve 54, so as to pass it through theaperture 54a directly into the drill-hole. The ball-valve 54 then closesupon its seat, thereby preventing retrogression of the liquid. Ifdesired, the operator can now allow more liquid to accumulate within theshot-hole and pocket 8a and then repeat the operation, so as to add tothe store of liquid within the drill-hole above the packing 60. Theliquid may thus be increased according to the size of the well until aconsiderable volume is thus stored. This is what call making the initiallifts of the liquid. After each yapplication of the aeriform body thevalve 22il is opened and the valve 12l closed, so as to allow theaeriform body to blow off, and thus relieve the aeriform pressure fromthe shot-hole. Unless this pressure were relieved it would retard theformation ofthe liquid within the bottom of the well. The operator nowbeing ready to make what I call the final lift closes the valve 12a,opens the valves 14a 17 a, and also opens the valve 22a. The aeriformbody thereupon passes downwardly through the short pipe 18a, out intothe casing-head 9a, and directly into the drillehole. Here it exercisesa downward pressure upon the upper surface of the liquid 71a and causesthe same to pass into the housing 47a through the aperture 54a,dislodging the ball 50 from its seat. The ball thus dislodged closes theupper end of the passage 51 and prevents the liquid from passing downinto the well again through said passage. The pressure of the aeriformbody upon the upper surface of the liquid 71L thus causes the liquid toascend through the tubing 46a to the surface of the earth, and it isthere discharged through the oil-discharge pipe 21a.

Where the wells are deep,.and consequently the apparatus shown in Fig. 1is employed, the initial lifts are made in a manner somewhat analogousto that above described. To make the initial lifts when using theapparatus shown in this figure, the operator closes the hand-valve 17band opens the handvalves 12 and 14. The aeriform body under pressurethereupon passes downwardly through the tubes 20 46, sleeves 25 and 33,passing around the outside of the core 34, and down through the tube 45to the housing 47. The ball-valve 50 being in its normal position uponits seat 49, the aeriform body passes downwardly through the passages 5161 59 into the drill-hole, where it exercises a downward pressure uponthe upper level of the liquid 70. It thus raises a considerable volumeof this liquid, which passes through the aperture 68 of the anchor-pipe67 and flows upwardly through the sleeve 55, raising the ball-valve 547and passing out into the drill-hole through the aperture 54a. After eachdischarge the ball-valve 54 drops back into its normal position,preventing retrogression of the liquid. The aeriform body is allowed toescape from the well after each of these initial lifts. This escape ismade through the discharge-pipe 2lb, the valve 22 being opened for thepurpose, the valves 17b and 12 being meanwhile closed. After one or morecharges of liquid have been thus raised into the drill-hole above thepacking 60 the operator proceeds to make the Afinal lift, so as to raisethe liquid thus accumulated to the surface of the earth. To accomplishthis purpose, he closes the valve 12, opens the valves 14 and 17h, andcloses the valve 17. The aeriform body under pressure thereupon descendsthrough the air-pipe 18 and passes out through the passage 35, as willbe understood from Figs. 1 and 4. The aeriform body then pressesdownwardly upon the upper surface of the liquid 71, and thus causes theliquid to flow through the passage 54a and upwardly through the tube 46to a point above the level of the earth, and it is thence discharged tothe oil-discharge pipe 2lb, the

valve 22 being opened for the purpose. As above described, theball-valve 50 automatically closes the passage 51. When, however, theliquid 71 has been discharged to the surface of the earth, theball-valve 50 drops back into its normal position. (Indicated in Fig.3.)

Where the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 is -employed and in making theinitial lifts incidental to the use of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, acomparatively low pressure may be employed. The reason for this is thatthe initial lift raises the liquid but a few feet. If, therefore, thewell is shallow, no great pressure is needed in the aeriform body, andeven if the well be of considerable depth no large pressure is neededfor making the initial lift. Considerable pressure, however, is ofcourse necessary to make the final lift from a deep well.

To persons unfamiliarwith this art it might seem that there would be nonecessity for making the initial lift if, as in Fig. 1, the well is toemploy a high pressure of an aeriform body. The reason for employing rsta low pressure and then a high pressure in cases where the liquid is tobe raised a considerable distance, as in Fig. 1, is based mainly upon afact which otherwise arises. The oil-rock is very porous and readilyabsorbs an aeriform body if the latter be applied thereto at a pressurehigher than the natural pressure of IOC IOS

the liquid or gas stored in the rock itselfthat is to say, the aeriformbody by finding its way into the pores of the oil-rock necessitates theuse of a volume of liquid, or in practice necessitates a high aeriformpressure, in order to make it effective in raising the liquid to thesurface of the earth. The porous rock may be considered as a sort ofyielding substance which wastes the energy possessed by the aeriformbody under pressure. I therefore seek by the initial lifts to merely getthe liquid out of the porous rock and elevate it a few feet, so as toplace it within a better receptacle, as it were, in order that thepressure of the aeriform body may be applied to the surface of theliquid without the aeriform body going out into the rock, and therebyhaving its pressure dissipated.

In practical experiments which I have tried along the above line I havefound that it required in some instances a pressure apparently two orthree times as great as would logically be required to raise the liquid.In some cases Where I employed a pressure of three hundred and fiftypounds of air I could only develop in the well a pressure of a littlemore than one hundred pounds per square inch. The reason is obvious. Theaeriform body simply passed od into the porous rock almost as fast as Icould supply it.

In many wells comparatively small charges-say consisting` of less thantwo barrels eachcan be made within a drillhole of six inches in diameterwithout any great difficulty being experienced. These charges may beraised as above described, so as to accumulate the volume of liquid tobe lifted, and then the entire volume thus accumulated may be raised tothe surface of the earth.

Oil-wells produce more or less natural gas, and when the volume ofpressure of such gas is sufficient it may be used for the purpose ofmaking the initial lift of the liquid instead of applying air-pressurefrom the surface of the earth for that purpose. The action would be asfollows: In the construction shown in Fig. 1 the valves 17, 17h, and 22and either 12 or 14 should be closed. In Fig. 2 the valves 22a, 12a, andeither the valve 14a or the valve 17a should be closed. This causes thenatural gas to collect in the well, and as the pressure becomes strongenough it forces the liquid in the well upward above the packing, afterwhich the valves may be opened and the gas allowed to escape from thewell.

It will be noted that the mechanism above described is to a great extentautomatic and that as between the two forms shown the parts may beadapted to wells of almost any depth.

It will also be noted that the system shown in Fig. 2 practicallyaccomplishes with one pipe what is accomplished by the use of two ormore pipes. I therefore designate the apparatus shown in this figure asa one-pipe system.77

Having thus described .my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters PatentF 1. The method herein described of raising liquidsfrom wells, which consists in applying pressure intermittently to theupper surface of a liquid resting freely within the well and 'otherwiseunconiined, thereby elevating the said liquid piecemeal in the form ofdistinct charges to a slightly higher level, and finally raising to thesurface of the earth the liquid thus elevated.

2. The method herein described of raising liquids from wells, whichconsists in intermittently applying pressure of an aeriform body to theupper surface of a liquid resting freely within the well and otherwiseunconiined, so as to elevate the same piecemeal to a slightly higherlevel, and then applying a single charge of an aeriform body undercomparatively high pressure so as to elevate to the surface of the earththe aggregate volume of liquid thus raised piecemeal.

3. The method herein described of raising liquid from wells whichconsists in applying an aeriform body under pressure to a body of liquidin the well for the purpose of forcing a portion of said liquid to aposition between two packings one disposed above the other in thedrill-hole of the well, preventing retrogression of the same and finallyapplying an aeriform body under pressure between the two said packingfor the purpose of forcing the liquid contained therein to the surfaceof the earth.

4. The method hereindescribed of raising liquids from wells, whichconsists in subjecting a liquid resting freely within the well andotherwise unconiined to the action of an aeriform body so as to raisesaid liquid to a level slightly higher than the normal level of theliquid in the well, causing the supply of said aeriform body to be cutoff when the upper surface of said liquid thus raised reaches apredertermined level, preventing retrogression of said liquid thusraised, and finally elevating the latter to the surface of the earth.

5. The method herein described of raising liquids from wells, whichconsists in causing an aeriform body under pressure to escape into thedrill-hole of the well, and accumulating sufficient pressure upon theupper surface of a body of free liquid contained within the well toraise a portion of said free liquid to a point above a packing withinsaid well, allowing the liquid thus raised to escape from the pipinginto the drill-hole of the well above said packing, preventingretrogression of the liquid thus raised above said packing, and finallymaking a separate application of an aeriform body to the portion ofliquid thus treated so as to raise the same to the surface of the earth.

6. The method herein described of raising liquids from wells, whichconsists in applying an aeriform body under pressure to a body of freeliquid contained within the well for the purpose of collecting it in thedrill-hole in a slightly-elevated position above the packing, relievingthe pressure thus employed so as to allow another supply of free liquidto accumulate within the well, then raising a portion ITO of saids'up'pljytlius accumulated in the saine l In testimony Whereef I havesigned my Way, merging 1t v vltli the portion first raised name to tliisspecification in the presence of and finally applylng an aeriforrn bodyunder y two subserlbing Witnesses.

pressure Within the drill-hole in the Well upon FRED JOSEPH MOSER. theupper surface of the liquid tlius raised for Vitnesses: the purpose offorcing the saine to the sur- E. C. ANDERSEN,

face of the earth. GEO. W. CRossMIE.

